Screen Printing onto Cloth

This was my first attempt at screen printing onto cloth. Before this exercise, I had only done screen printing once before, and this was onto paper.

Skill

Learning how to screen print my illustrations.

Approach to Learning

I went to a refresher screen printing workshop last week. I had already been to one but because I had not done any screen printing since, my knowledge of the process was very vague.

Process Notes

Key Tips from the Learning Process

1. Time management. Screen printing is a very long process - while I was waiting for the screen to dry there would be gaps of an hour long. I found I could use the time to prepare my image ready for exposure.
2. Remember do not expose the screen to light until image has been exposed. It did not happen to me, but another girl forgot and took hers out the room while I was there.
3. The first image on this post is the original image printed from a computer onto acetate. I learnt that by doing this it makes the final image stronger once printed.
4. Remember to always put weights on the screen or the print will come out blurry. (I always seemed to forget)
5. There is almost always a member of staff who is on drop-in who can help

Overall...

The refresher workshop was a good way to get started, but I found the best way to learn was actually carrying out the process myself. This way I got a feel for how long and laborious screen printing is- the workshop only lasted for half an hour and made the process look simple, whereas realistically, screen printing can take all day. I am a hands- on learner.